Driving head for wringers



Sept; 20, 1949.- J. OAKLEY 2,482,717

\ DRIVING HEAD lFOR WRINGERS Filed Dec. 15, 1945 A I l@ y////7//////////// 1N V EN TOR.

lay/dm@ AQ Patented Sept. 20, 1949 y l ,i2,4s2;71.7 r

` )DltrvrNGfHE-AD FOR WRINGERS- John Oakley, springfield,

kins Machine and GearQomrany, West Spring,- Afielcry-Mass., acorporation 'o"i"Mat'sv"sachufSetts'A .Application December 13,19459SetlxNoh634p38- illclaim: (o1.za-LWe) Thisdnvention relates .to.driving mechanism andfisl'di`rected more particl'arly-towringer headsilll'iich.-'areusedl connection `with a washing mahine forldrivng theVwringer .thereo'f.

l,"Iheelitnrinkiipal bjets fo'f 'the .invention .are directedto`ltheprovisin of a wringer headw'hich ist-oharacteizedby V'sl'iftable meansfor driving opposite 'siciteueirections- According tospeialfeatures ftheinvention,

the wringer head-'fmechaiiismtissi-mple in form v,

so thatythe parts may beleconomically produced and readilyfandeasily,assembled.V whileatithe same'tim'e the mechanism'is e'icien't inoperation.

With the foregoing and various other novel features and advantages andother objects of my invention as will become more apparent as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel featuresof construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts as willbe hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claim hereuntoannexed and more fully described and referred to in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevational view through a wringer head embodyingthe novel features of the invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional plan views on the lines 2-2 and 3-3respectively of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the clutch shifter of the mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail, the invention will befully described.

A housing 2 is provided which may have a cover 4 secured thereto in anyconvenient manner. The housing will be adapted for disposition at theupper side of a column which usually extends upwardly at a side of thetub of a washing machine.

A drive shaft is ordinarily journalled for rotation in the columnreferred to and is coupledfin some suitable manner to a drive shaft 6which Mass. assigner-,weeris journalled at its upper and lower ends inthe housing for rotation on a vertical laxis, as shown.

A driven gear 8 is rotatable in the housing on an axis transverse tothat of the drive shaft and is adapted to be operatively connected to aroll or rolls of a wringer which may be secured to the housing.

Upper and lower driving gears or pinions ID are rotatable on the driveshaft 6 and are held against axial Vdisplacement relative to said shaftby snap rings I2 which are seated in grooves I4 provided in the shaft.

A clutch member I6 is slidable up and down in f slots -218on-.oppositesides of the fbore-of- `.the .clutchemember so vthat vthe said Vclutchmember .is'rrotatedrby thedriveshaftl. Y

.-'Ilhe driving'imembers-lz are:provided-withpro-A jections-.II `whichare.engageable-withother projeotions-v I--of itheyclutch member `IBfwhenthe .saidmemberis-shiftedefrom---the*neutral ,positionshownftoan-uppenorlower operatingtposition.

. With thedrive l s haftlirotatingfinga certain .dil rectionithedriven-gear 8. is .rotated inone..dir ec .tieneorath'e other` depending-upon- .which=driven gear. Iilthe tclutch.xmember =VI6 :isy in:engagement with. In this manner the driven gear may be driven in thedirection desired.

Various means may be employed for shifting the clutch member I6, theembodiment of the invention shown being for illustrative purposes. Anoperating member 30 has a shaft portion 32 oscillatable in the housingand provided with a pin 36 on'which a block 38 is pivoted. Said block 38is disposed in a circumferential groove of the clutch member I6 and thepin 36 is disposed eccentrically relative to the axis of the shaftportion 32, all as shown.

As the member 30 is engaged for oscillation in one direction or theother from the neutral position shown, the pin moves the block 38 up ordown and thereby the clutch member I6 is operatively engaged with one orthe other of the driving members I0.

The shaft portion 32 is provided with a circumferential groove 40 and ascrew 42 in threaded engagement with the housing has an inner tip 44disposed in said groove to prevent axial displacement of the operatingmember.

Detents 46 in a bore 48 of the shaft part 32 are urged outwardly by aspring 50. Grooves 52 in the bore for the shaft part 32 are provided forreceiving the detents so that the said shaft part and operating Vmemberare releasably held in neutral or an operatingV position of the clutchmember. Y

The components may be economically produced since burring operations andthe like are not necessary, as on the ends of the driving pinions, sincethe ends of the teeth are not rotated in contact with other parts.V

Assembly of the parts is easily and readily accomplished by moving thedrive shaft upwardly through the lower bearing therefor and passing itthrough the pinions and clutch member in the order to provide thearrangement shown.

The invention may be embodied in other speon the shaft 6 from theneutralposition, shown 55 cic forms without departing from the essentialalisaviv characteristics thereof. Hence, the present embodiments aretherefore to be considered in all respects merely as being illustrativeand not as being restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicatedby the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and allmodifications and variations as fall within the meaning and purview andrange of equivalency of the appended claim are therefore intended to beembraced therein.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

A driving head construction for wringers comprising in combination, ahousing having upper and lower aligned bearings for a vertical driveshaft with adjacent inner ends in spaced relation and a side bearing fora driven gear rotatable on on a horizontal axis, a drive shaft rotatablein said aligned bearings, drive pinions independently rotatable on saiddrive shaft, said drive shaft provided with spaced annular grooves andsnap rings in said grooves abutting inner ends of said pinions andholding and locating the same with their outer ends adjacent inner endsof the aligned bearings and theirinner ends spaced apart, a gearrotatable in said side bearing having teeth in operative engagement withsaid pinions, a clutch member having an outer annular groove therearoundreciprocable on said drive shaft and slidable driving connectionsbetween said member and drive shaft, certain of the teeth of saidpinions extending inwardly from inner ends thereof, said clutch memberbeing recipro- 4 cable from a central neutral position in oppositedirections to operative positions above and below said neutral positionand provided with projections on opposite ends thereof engageable withthe inwardly extending teeth of the pinions when in an operativeposition, an operating member oscillatable in said housingon a certainaxis having a projection disposed eccentrically relative to said axis,an elongated block in the groove of the clutch member rotatablyreceiving said projection, and a spring detent in said housing engage-`able with said operating member for holding it in various positions.

JOHN OAKLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,325,884 Tolll Dec. 23, 19191,558,074 Bried Oct. 20, 1925 1,853,919 More Apr, 12, 1932 1,923,380Hunt et al. Aug. 22, 1933 2,133,568 Perkins Oct. 18, 1938 2,281,885Litle May 5, 1942 2,281,886 Schultze May 5, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 280,675 Great Britain Nov. 24, 1927

